JK earns dubious distinction

20 IAS Officers Working On Same Place For Years

ADMINISTRATIVE STAGNANCY

FIRDOUS TAK

Jammu, Nov 19: Jammu and Kashmir has turned out to be among the bottom two states across India having “least interest” in reshuffling senior officers serving on various positions in the state.As per a survey more than 20 Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officers serving in various government departments have not been transferred for years together for some unknown reasons. As per the Service Rules the government is required to maintain minimum tenure of two years for an officer on a post but there is no upper limit prescribed.A Zee Research Group (ZRG) analysis of candidates short-listed for IAS from all cadres during 2001-2011 found that while transfer of bureaucrats is a regular feature of Indian officialdom, the trend was surprisingly reverse in Jammu and Kashmir.While Haryana has got the dubious tag of transferring bureaucrats at the highest average rate of 7.46, followed by Chhattisgarh and Kerala at 6.17 and 5.19, respectively, Jammu and Kashmir has figured among the bottom two states.“Hilly states like Jammu and Kashmir appeared to be least interested in changing babus”, the survey states adding, “During the period under review, Jammu and Kashmir has registered the least transfer rate of IAS officers at 2.33”.If figures are to be believed most of the IAS officers in the state have been transferred around just twice in last one decade. The national average rate of babus transferred during 2001 to 2011 has been calculated at 4.19 implying that on an average an IAS officer gets transferred at least four times during this period.However, among 1240 bureaucrats short-listed in last decade, there are 253 bureaucrats who have been working on the same position. In this category, Uttar Pradesh and Maharashtra take the lead with 44 and 29 such officers respectively. Similarly, 23 bureaucrats belong to Andhra Pradesh and 20 Jammu and Kashmir cadre have worked on the same position from years, the survey report adds.For the analysis, bio-data of 1240 short-listed bureaucrats in last decade have been reviewed by ZRG. The national average rate of transfer has been arrived at by calculating the number of transfers of all 1240 officers.Officials in the state administration were of the opinion that less transfer rate was mainly due to the shortage of IAS cadre officers in the state. Presently around one-third of sanctioned posts are vacant in Jammu and Kashmir, which has a total sanctioned strength of 137 IAS officers. “At least 46 posts are lying vacant in the state which means that the officers have to either stick at one place or hold more than two posts at a time,” sources said. According to sources there are some officers in the state who are holding charge of three to five important assignments at a time.“The cadre strength of J&K was reviewed in 2009 and increased from 112 to 137.Some officers termed the low transfer trend in the state as a “good sign” claiming it gives an officer enough time to plan and execute things in a particular department. “It is not the low transfer trend but frequent transfers which are a general cause of concern among all the IAS officers across the country”, a senior officer in J&K government quipped adding; “At least we have a better position in the state”.A recent research done by University of Warwick and Harvard Business School found that IAS officers spend on average only 16 months in any specific post in India. Moreover, they have a 53 per cent probability of being appointed to a new position in a given year. The research was analyzed looking at data on the careers of 2,800 officers in the IAS over the period 1980 to 2004.

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